Chapter Two: Psychotic
Chapter Two: Psychotic is the second episode of the first season of Coda. Synopsis * A mysterious group of bandits attempt to recruit the group to join them, however, Harper attempts to convince the bandits to let them go without inciting violence. Ramona fears for Piper's mental health after the loss of her family. (Present time) * With Riley still missing, Harper and Declan are on the lookout at her workplace to find her. Meanwhile, someone succumbs to the infection. (Flashbacks) Episode Transcript A few days have passed since Harper's group suffered yet another loss at the hands of the undead. Harper pulled herself together and went to speak to Matt on their current gameplan. "What's the move, Matt?" Harper barged in during Matt's conversation with Kari in the gas station back office, who was wondering the same queries as Harper, "This place has been crawling with walkers since our last...incident, so I figured maybe it's the best idea we head out." Matt slowly looked over his shoulder to make eye contact with Harper, "Good morning to you, too. Glad to see you're okay." "Quit the bullshit. We're not safe here. We're piling bodies day by day for what? It's pointless." Harper looked to Kari for backup, but he remained quiet for a few moments. "Uh...I'm gonna have to agree with you on that." Kari spoke up, sighing, "I don't feel safe here, and I don't feel safe keeping my son here, either. " Matt scoffed and looked back and forth at Kari and Harper, before settling his eyes on Harper, "Brandon's group is still out there, we need to wait for them before we can guarantee that we're going anywhere." "Any idea where they went?" Harper asked, crossing her arms. "Look, when I checked on them before they left, they said they were heading to Atlanta. Now, you say you came from there, but you never ran into anyone on the way here, did you?" Matt asked Harper, shaking her head, "We wait. That's our plan." "I don't know how much waiting I can take..." Harper wipes her eyes and bowed her head backwards, placing her hands from here eyes to her hips. "You okay, Pipes?" Ramona asked the young girl who once again read her book in silence. "I'm doing okay, Miss Whitson." Piper responded with a half smile, clearly forced. "Please, you can call me Ramona if you want, dear. After all we've been through, that's more than okay." Ramona walked off to speak to Laurel and Noah. "Well, same as yesterday, she says she's okay, but she's obviously not. I really want her to get better." Ramona spoke to Laurel, wiping her face in exhaustion. "She'll pull through. We all do, don't we?" Laurel responded with a smile. "You're bitten." Declan spoke up after seeing the bite on Stu's back. "Shit...this hasn't happened yet." Kari mentioned, covering his mouth. Stu looked like a bat out of hell, frightened as a young girl with a monster under her bed. "We got antibiotics, don't we? Patch me up and give me some of that?" Stu shakingly mentioned to the group. "We don't know if that will help...we heard the stories, even in the hospital, no one survived a bite." Ross whispered to Harper, trying to do his best to help. Harper stood in disbelief as her boyfriend panicked due to his bite, not wanting to become an animal like they saw on the news and in the streets. "Let's just...patch me up and we'll go find Riley. I gotta be okay, right?" Stu declared. The group stared at him with unfulfilling eyes. A tear rolled down Harper's cheek. Declan and Kevin smoked a cigarette sitting on top of the gas station, exchanging backstories back and forth. "Never did find my parents. Laurel was a fucking mess, didn't know what to do with herself. I'm her big brother, though, had to get her to safety. Didn't wanna end up like what I thought my parents had become. Guess I'll never know." Kevin sat with a red face on his busted up purple lawn chair. He was clearly in pain from the memories. Declan put his hand on Kevin's shoulder and smiled at him. "We've all been through the same shit and we're all okay. Guess we're not a bunch of weak bastards, aren't we?" Declan attempted to cheer him up. "Yeah...guess we're not." The duo heard Laurel climbing up the ladder they set up to reach the top of the gas station. "I just spoke with Matt, he has been talking to Harper, and they think it's a good idea if we get out of here." Laurel told the two, and they exchanged worried looks. "Are you sure about that? I would feel safe leaving, of course, but what about Brandon, Rebel, Fred, n' Cheryl? Are we gonna leave them?" Kevin asked. "That's apparently our first plan. Harper says y'all didn't see anyone on your way here from Atlanta," she spoke to Declan, who was nodding," so we're thinking maybe they were attacked and had to hole up somewhere for a while." "Or they're dead." Declan muttered, "We're all thinking it, somebody had to say it." Laurel shook her head with her eyes closed, "Yeah...or that." "Jason, come here real quick." Kari spoke to his son, who was sitting about twenty feet away from the gas station up against a rock. "What's up, dad?" Jason asked after getting up and walking over to his father. "We're heading out of here to find the rest of the group. Get your stuff together, we're not going back for the cars on the highway. Apparently we got out of there just in time, it's usually a red zone for roamers." Kari told his son. "Good thing we don't have shit left over there." "Watch your damn mouth." Kari shook his head at his son, who held his hands up and apologized, "Go get Noah, he's got a bag for you that he found at a Sears a few places down from here. Jason walked over to find Noah. "My dad said you needed me?" Jason asked after entering the gas station. "Yeah, here, take this." Noah tossed Jason a black bag with a small hole in it on the side. Jason tried on the backpack, and adjusted it for a few seconds before looking at Noah and smiling. "Thanks. Didn't have something to carry all the nothing I've got." Jason chuckled alongside Noah for a moment before heading out to Matt's caravan of cars waiting for them outside. Reaching the law firm, Harper pulled her gun out of her holster and made her way inside. "Everyone stay in formation, and don't be afraid to kill one of these bastards if they get in the way." Declan demanded the group. "No promises, I don't think I've taken out but a few of these things so far. Ross got 'em all for me." Candace smiled to the group. '' ''"Yeah, well it helps if you know how to turn the safety off. And know how to hold a gun the right way." Ross joked with Candace. The group stayed in tight formation, not encountering any roamers. '' ''"This place is a dead zone. Nothing is happening..." Ross muttered. Suddenly, a yell caused the group to jump. Stu, who was outside with Jason and Kari, yelled in pain. "Kari...I don't wanna do this shit anymore." Stu stuttered, clearly with a fever and in severe pain. "Just go inside, leave me here. Riley needs help if she's in there, and I'll just..." "Hell no, I'm not leaving someone behind. That's not okay." Kari responded, shushing him. "I'll sit in the car and stay low. Take some more medicine. I'll be okay by the time you get here, I just need to rest." "Dad, they could need help in there." Jason told Kari, who was now considering going inside to help. '' ''"Fine. But you stay in the car and don't leave for anything. We'll be back in no time, I promise." Kari declared, making sure his gun was loaded. "Good...I'll just keep the door open a little bit. If a walker shows up I can...I can shut it real quick." Stu was helped into the car. The group of survivors drove in an alternate direction, away from Harper's group's cars and towards Atlanta. A large gathering of walkers was seen coming from that direction just a few miles from Exit 285. "Good thing we got out of there when we did. We'd be biter food now if we hadn't." Noah nudged Laurel in the car. In the caravan, Harper, Declan, Jason, Kari, Ramona, and Piper drove in an SUV, while Matt, Laurel, and Noah drove in another, following close behind. "Do you see those people...up ahead? I swear I see something." Jason asked Declan, who was driving. "Probably just a pack of biters, man. Sorry." Declan responded, not batting an eye at the seemingly small group. "No, no...those are people right there. Stop the car." Harper demanded. The groups of cars both exited, and slowly approached the three standing outside. "Shit, who the hell are these guys?" One of the people asked, reaching for his gun. Harper raised her hand and stopped him, but he kept his hand on his gun. "I'm Harper. This is my group, we're friendly, just looking for help finding our people. Have you seen a group of people come through here, two men and two women?" Harper asked, looking for Brandon's group. "Uh...I think so, just a couple days ago. Why don't y'all come inside and have a drink?" One of the women asked the group. "I don't think we can, we're in a hurry. There's a pack of biters about ten miles away." Declan insisted. "Please, they aren't gonna come this way, we saw the same pack not long ago. Passed through while we was scouting. I'm Shelley, this here is Roger and Clay." Shelley mentioned, calming down the group. The group headed inside the old bar where the others were shacking up. After a while of discussing the outbreak, one of the people, Tristan, walked outside to take guard. "I got an offer for ya..." Janine spoke up, "You join us...we help ya find yer friends?" The group looked at each other before Matt spoke up. "We really don't feel comfortable staying here, what with the pack passing through." He looked down, clearly lying. "I got a bad vibe from these people..." Harper whispered to Declan. Rachel, one of the others, took notice of this. Rachel spoke up, "How 'bout 'nother offer..." She went from sitting back in her chair to leaning against the counter. She pulled out a gun and aimed it straight at Matt, "Join our little group, or give us every piece of shit you own or we kill you." Piper fearfully hid behind Ramona, who had a shocked look upon her face. "What the fuck is this?" Laurel yelped, taken by surprise and grabbing her brother's shoulder. "Fucking bandits...I knew it." Declan revealed, not very surprised. The group heard screams from inside the law firm, and ran after them. "Could that be Riley?" Candace asked as they ran. "Sounded like it could've been..." Declan yelled, hoping and praying it was her. The group passed by walkers, and Kari showed up from behind just in time to save Declan from a walker bite. "Thanks, man." Declan nodded. The group shot up the walkers, and the screams were getting closer. As they neared, they saw a woman's leg sitting from behind a turn. What looked like a bite rested on her ankle. "Alright...we'll give you our shit, just leave us alone. We don't want any trouble at all." Harper slowly spoke to not startle the bandits. "Just hurry the fuck up. We don't have all damn day." Terry insisted, pointing her gun at Piper. Piper shrieked, and Ramona stood in front of Terry. "What you got a deathwish, bitch? I'll grant it if that's what you want you stupid cunt." Terry whipped Ramona in the face with her pistol. Harper tried to run at Terry to stop her, but Shelley shoved her gun at Harper's chin. "Ah ah ah...outside." The group walked outside to the cars, and Tristan focused his gun on Declan's head, ready to shoot when given the heads up. Harper nudged Declan in secrecy, noticing a walker approaching from behind Tristan at a distance. Declan noticed as well, and tried to distract the bandits with the cars, as the walker was coming from another direction. "Here's all the shit we got, it isn't much, but it'll have to do." Declan opened up the back of the SUV him and the few others sat in. Matt looked at Tristan, who's gun was now aimed at him. "Why the hell are you doing this?" He asked, shaking his head slowly. "We all gotta do whatever we gotta do to survive. Surely you folks understand?" Tristan crookedly smiled. "Yeah. We do." Matt kicked Tristan in the stomach towards the walker, and pulled his gun out to shoot. First person he noticed was Janine, who he shot in the shoulder and leg after she jumped for cover. The walker bit into Tristan's throat, while Tristan wildly shot into the sky, screaming. A few more walkers showed up and began feasting on Tristan. "GET INTO COVER, NOW!" Kari yelled, yanking his gun out of his sock and began shooting, hitting Rachel straight in the eye, killing her. "Oh shit..." Kari helped his son to get cover behind the SUV, where Declan had just headbutted Shelley, who ran back inside to grab another weapon after Declan took her's and shot at her with it. "Get in the cars, now, let's get the fuck out of here." The group entered their cars, ducking down to avoid gunshot wounds. A bullet flew into Kevin's leg, and he shrieked in pain as he entered the SUV with Declan, Piper, Kari, and Jason. The groups drove off, trying to avoid the gunshots. "Fucking hell...Kari, help Kevin." Declan hit the steering wheel, and rubbed on his nose with another hand. Kari tended to Kevin's wound, "Doesn't look too bad, if I were an expert I'd know more, but this looks manageable." "Let's get the fuck out of here then." Kevin spoke up. The group drove off away from the bandits. However, the surviving ones, minus Shelley, who was left inside the bar, were not far behind. Co-Stars * Jeremy Allen White as Noah Ford * Matt LeBlanc as Roger * Bruce Willis as Clay * Elena Davies as Terry * Raven Walton as Rachel * Nick Gomez as Tristan * Alison Brie as Candace Peters Deaths * Tristan * Rachel Trivia * First appearance of Riley. (Flashbacks) * First appearance of Roger. * First appearance of Clay. * First appearance of Terry. * First appearance of Janine. * First appearance of Shelley. (Unknown) ** Shelley will (eventually) return to the series. Whether as an antagonist or reformed, this is still up for anticipation. * First (and last) appearance of Rachel. * First (and last) appearance of Tristan. * Rachel wasn't originally planned to die in this episode, however, more deaths felt needed. * Stu was originally planned to be revealed dead in this episode. However, his fate is still being decided. * The woman with what looks like a bite mark on her ankle at the end of the flashbacks, is indeed, Riley. Her fate will be discussed in the next episode. * Shelley's group of "raiders" (more or less) speak with a redneck sort of tone in order to intimidate their victims. Later on, as seen with Janine, they do speak like average people when they are not grouped together. *